


The University of New Rome

by andipxndy



Series: Life Beyond the War [7]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: College!demigods, Gen, New Rome, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 09:12:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6323542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andipxndy/pseuds/andipxndy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you'd asked Jason Grace a few years ago where exactly he planned to be a few years later, he would have probably answered with a stammer of, “I don't know,” or a cheeky, “come back to me in a few years”... He didn't expect, a few years after saving the world, to actually be able to go to college."</p>
<p>Welcome to New Rome: a place of learning, opportunity, and... maybe not the sanest of demigods. Of course, most demigods don't realise the last point until they *arrive* there. Which is exactly what Jason learnt as soon as he arrived there. But hey, maybe with his friends around... it won't be that bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to New Rome!

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net (username: The Needless Lobsters)  
> Original Post Date: 10/06/2015  
> New Post Date (on here): 05/04/2016
> 
> Hey, so, this is an idea that I kind of wanted to develop, and get a load of oneshots on. And I'm taking requests for this! I already have some, but I think I need some more, and I'm hoping that you guys can give me some ideas on what to write. So if you guys have any ideas, don't hesitate to tell me!

If you'd asked Jason Grace a few years ago where exactly he planned to be a few years' time, he would have probably answered with a stammer of, "I don't know," or a cheeky, "Come back to me in a few years."

Being a demigod was always unreliable; life was most likely short, and you had to make it sweet, because you were a warrior from the moment you got claimed – for some, from the moment you were born. And so very few expected a lot from their lives. Particularly if you happened to be a son of Zeus, Poseidon or Hades. (Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto to the Romans.)

So Jason, naturally, didn't expect to make it far. He made it through the second _Titanomachy_ – great! Then the Gaia war – even better! Somehow, he'd thought that even being made _Pontifex_ would kill him – not because of battling monsters, but the sheer stress that came with the job.

" _We're here!_ "

He didn't expect, a few years after saving the world for the second time, to actually be able to go to college.

Not that he didn't think he was smart enough to get to college. No, Jason knew he was intelligent. After all, how else would he have survived for so long? It was just that he thought that his new 'job' would get in the way, or that the gods would forbid it, or that he'd be dead by then.

But they actually _made_ him go.

Or rather, _Hera_ made him go. Zeus didn't really get a say in the matter.

So here he was, in New Rome, standing outside one of the dorm blocks for the university, a duffel bag in one hand with all of his resources such as ambrosia, nectar, drachmas, and a change of shirt (just like he'd take whilst travelling as _Pontifex_ ), and a suitcase being dragged behind him that had a load of extra clothes that Piper had packed for him. (A few years and a whole lot of travelling later, and they were still going strong.)

Beside him stood one of the few blonde females he could absolutely trust with his life – Annabeth Chase. When she'd heard about him being sent to college (she'd been _there_ when it had been suggested, since she had to keep an eye on everything up on Mount Olympus and Jason had been invited up there for the first time ever only to be told he was going to college in the fall) she'd offered straight away to show him around the campus. Take him to all of the places he hadn't exactly been allowed to venture into when he'd been part of the legion.

And that was where they were right then – the two had reached the campus not too long ago, and had gone looking around the place. Well, Jason had been looking around the place. Annabeth had been making her way across the campus slowly, giving Jason enough time to look around whilst still making sure that they would reach their dorms on time. As they'd walked, she'd pointed out different key points about the campus, such as the different buildings that were used for studies, the different common areas, even the student-owned coffee shop (which Jason honestly hadn't known existed… it was probably a new addition.)

"And… here we are."

The two had come to a stop in front of what looked like a fairly large block of apartments. Which it was, except it was specifically for ex-legionnaires and students of New Rome – these were the dorms. The building was made of white marble, as the rest of the buildings in the city, and Jason was almost 100% sure that there was red tile on the roof of the building. It seemed to have four or five storeys, just like two or three other buildings not too far from it. The front door to the building was glass, with what looked like Imperial Gold handles (Jason swore they were only meant for weaponry, but he supposed _someone_ had wanted to be artistic…) and a simple plaque stating that it was the _Minerva Building_ , whereas the one to the right was the _Ceres Building_ and the block to the left was the _Vesta Building_.

The two approached the apartment block, and Annabeth punched in the key-code to the main door, pulling it open when there was a small beep.

"I didn't know the university was so hi-tech?" Jason pointed out with a raised eyebrow as he followed her into the building.

Annabeth sent him a small smile. "It was only installed a couple of years ago, after the war. They kind of had to redesign and rebuild everything."

"Oh, okay then." Well, that explained why he hadn't known much about the design of the place.

Once the door was shut behind them both, Annabeth led them through the main lobby of the building. There was nothing really special about it – it was a large cream-coloured room with a marble floor, with a couple of couches for when there were visitors waiting for students, and a reception desk that was rarely ever occupied anyway. The walls were blank, only having a couple of window to let in some natural light, and along the far wall were two doors – one that led to the ground floor apartments, and another that led to a stairwell to the other floors. Of course, there was the elevator as well, but that was through the stairwell door, right by the stairs.

Annabeth led Jason through the door to the staircase, and pressed the "up" button for the elevator, which was right by the stairs – like the lobby flooring, the stairs were a white marble colour, and they hurt like hell if you tripped on them (Annabeth knew that from experience). They were only waiting for a few seconds before the doors opened, and the two walked into the empty lift, Annabeth pressing the button for the second floor, which was the floor that they lived on.

"So… what's college life like?" Jason asked as the doors closed and the metal box began to rise.

Annabeth thought about that for a moment, smiling.

"Oh, it's wonderful. I mean, I study architecture, and I absolutely _love it_. Even though some of the Romans don't seem to be all too fond of the Greeks, apparently Greek architecture has always been part of the curriculum." The blonde female sighed dreamily. "I get to study everything, from the building of the Parthenon to the building of the Coliseum. It's _amazing_."

"Well, I was talking more about life as in the _fun_ stuff you do around here," Jason pointed out, smirking. "But I'm glad to see that you're enjoying studying architecture."

She rolled her eyes at him as the lift doors opened, and she walked out into the corridor ahead. Here, it seemed less like a Roman building and more like a hotel corridor, with wooden floors and cream walls to make the place seem a bit warmer. At the far end of the corridor, there was a large window that overlooked what was probably the common area of the campus, which was where most of the students hung out in their free time, and along each side of the corridor were doors leading to the dorms – 3A-F on one side and 3G-L on the other. Between each door was a lamp on the wall, keeping the corridor light because not much natural light actually got in (even though there was a huge window at the end of the corridor). "Oh, that? That's good too."

Jason followed her down the corridor, pulling his luggage along behind him. "Okay, so what _is_ it like?"

"Well, there's a lot of freedom with the college students… you can hang out in the common area or at the market in the cafes when you haven't got classes and stuff like that. The nightlife isn't too bad either. The Bacchus kids and legacies are always the ones you can tell apart, because they throw the most, and admittedly the best, parties. Descendents of Ceres always have food to give away, so if you're hungry and looking for somewhere to snack, go for one of their apartments, or hunt one down. _Gods_ know Percy's done that a lot." She thought for a moment. "Descendants of Venus will almost always be shopping in their free time, to be honest, and they're always at parties too. Apollo descendants are rarely ever seen, because they usually study medicine or some sort of career along that line – you can often find them in the hospital, or the clinic… or the morgue." She came to a stop in front of a door – room 3H. "Don't ever let kids of Mars drink, because more often than not, they're violent drunks. But if you're thinking about the college students in general…" She took the handle of the door and twisted it, pushing it open…

Only to find that there were a group of boys in the room, her _boyfriend_ in the centre, chugging what was most probably a gallon of Kool Aid whilst the other guys around him were cheering.

Annabeth just sighed, whilst Jason had an expression on his face that was somewhere in between confused and deeply concerned.

They'd opened the door just as Percy seemed to be finishing, and once he was done with the bottle ("More like a tank," Jason thought,) he pulled it away from his lips and took a deep breath, letting out a belch that Jason was sure could be heard from Olympus itself.

The cheering that followed was almost deafening, although every single guy in the room seemed to hear Annabeth when she cleared her throat, going silent and turning to the door. Percy gave his girlfriend a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hey, Wise Girl," he greeted, another burp stopping him from continuing and causing the guys around him to laugh.

Annabeth's nose crinkled, before she turned to Jason. "…Most of the students are a lost cause in their free time." She sighed. "Well, this is your room. Good luck." She simply patted him on the shoulder, before turning to head further down the corridor. "I'm two doors down on the opposite side, in dorm 3D, if you need me!"

Jason just stared after her helplessly, before turning back to face the guys in the room. He recognised a couple of those faces from his time in the legion, most of them looking a whole lot older than he remembered.

One face he definitely remembered, though, was Dakota's, and he nearly groaned when the son of Bacchus stepped forward, looking the same as ever with a huge grin on his face.

"Jason! Hey, man! Good to see ya!" He walked – or rather, _stumbled_ – over to the demigod, patting him on the shoulder as he led him further into the room.

"U-uh…" Jason mumbled, looking a bit shocked at all that was happening.

The room was quiet as the blonde was brought to the centre of the room, where Percy was sat, and the son of Poseidon stood from his seat, grinning at Jason. The two stood there in silence for a few moments, before Percy stuck out his hand to the other demigod.

"Welcome to the University of New Rome, dude."

A slight grin broke out on Jason's face, and he took the hand in a firm handshake, ignoring the cheers that erupted around the room.

Well, his stay here was going to be… _eventful_.

* * *

 

"I did not know you were to be in New Rome. I would've thrown you a welcome party."

Jason turned in his seat to see the one and only Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano walking towards him proudly, her Roman toga pinned perfectly as usual and her hair done into a braid and draped over her left shoulder.

Over the past few years, with Jason being Pontifex, his relationship with Reyna had been forced to improve. After all, Jason visited the Roman camp every other month, checking up on temples and designs and making sure that they were going well, and he had to keep in contact with the Praetors to make sure that what was being built was approved of by them as well. Of course, Frank had been more than willing to communicate with Jason. Reyna had taken… months of attempted communication and being locked in a room with Jason (courtesy of _Piper_ , actually – she was getting tired of Jason complaining about how she wouldn't talk to him) before she'd eventually stared speaking to him, and months more before they could actually hold an amicable conversation about something _other_ than the temples. Now they were almost like old friends – the key word being _almost_.

The son of Zeus smiled as Reyna approached him and sat up more fully in his seat at the cafe, pushing his book aside and pushing his seat back to greet her. "Hey, Reyn—"

Just as he stood, his knee hit the table, the coffee that had sat on the table tipping and falling onto the ground. He wasn't fast enough to grab the mug before it hit the ground and smashed against the floor, breaking and spilling his drink everywhere.

He cringed as the sound of the ceramics breaking, and shot a guilty look at Reyna. "Oops…"

Reyna sighed, rolling her eyes at him, although the lightest of smirks graced her lips. "Ah, Grace, still ever the clumsy one, aren't you?"

Jason gave her a look, before kneeling down to try and pick up the broken pieces, placing each of them on the table. There was nothing that he could do about the spilt coffee, he knew that, but he had to at _least_ help a bit with the clean up. The cafe owner definitely wouldn't be all that pleased with the broken mug.

"I'll have you know that the mug only broke _after_ your arrival."

"Are you blaming this on me?"

"No. I'm blaming it on your presence."

"And there is a difference between those two things?"

"Yeah, there is." A grin grew on Jason's face as he stood back up straight, fixing his glasses a little on his face so that he could see Reyna better. "I mean, your presence means that you just startled me or you were just around. You _actually_ being at fault means—"

"I do not need the explanation, Grace." She held out her hand in greeting, expecting him to shake it. "It's nice to see you back here, Jason."

Jason gripped her forearm in a handshake, smiling. "It's nice to be back."

"Are you not on a job, then?" Reyna asked curiously as she pulled her arm away from his. Honestly, Jason had never really had a holiday. He was always travelling, or on business when he was around Camp Jupiter and New Rome. From time to time, over the holidays, he brought Piper with him, but other than that he was almost always working. So to see him sitting at a cafe, _reading_ , was rather strange to Reyna.

"Not exactly…" Jason seemed to be contemplating what to say for a moment, before he gestured to the streets. "Let's take a walk. I mean, there's a lot for me to tell you… a _lot_."

Reyna's dark eyebrow simply rose, but she did as he suggested anyway, moving aside a little so that he could move away from the table (and leave a tip because of that broken mug) and then beginning to follow him down the streets of New Rome, her toga billowing behind her in the breeze.

To Jason, it seemed as if the streets hadn't changed a bit since he'd been part of the legion and used to visit New Rome more regularly. The streets still had that familiar, cobble-stoned appearance, the one that made the sweet clip-clop sound whenever a horse (or even better, a _Pegasus_ ) was walked down the streets. Almost every main street was lined with shops of all sorts – boutiques, cafes, toy stores… pretty much almost anything safe that could be imported from the mortal world and sold to demigods and legacies was sold here. They even had a demigod version of what mortals called _Ikea_ , which Jason could remember having a lot of fun in as a child when he'd pretty much spent all of his time in there trying out different seating and jumping on beds… which the store owners had been none too pleased about.

They were rounding the corner at the end of the main street they had been walking down when it hit Jason – that sweet bakery smell that made his mouth water every time he entered this part of the city. He shot Reyna a look.

Reyna didn't even look over at him before responding. "You're hungry?"

"Not exactly…"

"Then no."

"But come on, Rey… it's your favourite!"

"If it isn't necessary, then we're not going."

Jason pouted, his blue eyes going wide behind his glasses. "Please, Reyna? Please…?"

It took about a minute before Reyna was standing at the counter in the bakery, ordering some baked goods for herself and Jason to snack on.

"So, what do you want?" Jason asked as his eyes roamed over the different treats. Pies, breads, pastries… the bakery had almost everything that Jason had loved as a kid. He was tempted to just ask for everything and eat all of it now, but he wasn't sure if he had the _denarii_ to buy it all or the stomach to eat everything. Though, if he had _Percy's_ help, he would definitely be able to finish it all.

"I'm not hungry."

"But you always used to get something whenever we came here."

"The key phrase in that sentence is _used to_."

"Oh, come on, Reyna! You know you want to… for old times' sake? Please?" he begged, his eyes growing wide.

Reyna sighed, trying to look anywhere _but_ at his face, because she knew that once she looked into those eyes…

"Get me my usual," she told him finally, pulling out a couple of _denarii_ and handing it to Jason, who grinned widely at her before turning back to the counter to order their baked goods.

Minutes later, the two were walking out of the bakery and were back on their walk through the town, both of them munching on their baked goods as they walked. They eventually ended up in the park in the middle of the residential area, and the two of them sat down on one of the benches, finishing off their treats.

Jason dusted his hands off on his jeans. "So, you know, it's nice to be back in my home city," he told Reyna with a smile, before brushing the crumbs off his lips. "I mean, Camp Half-Blood is nice with all the fun stuff and the relaxed atmosphere and everything, but nothing beats the streets of New Rome. Nothing beats anything here."

Reyna just raised an eyebrow at him, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "So why are you back here? You still haven't told me, Jason," she pointed out with a small smirk. "Is there something that you are trying to hide from me?"

"No! Nothing!" he protested quickly with a smile, laughing lightly. "No, no… it's something else. Something completely different, actually." His eyes glanced around the park, watching all of the different people there. Kids playing on the swings in the playground area, their parents pushing them; a young couple was having a picnic on the grass (and the couple happened to look a whole lot like Gwen and Dakota, for some reason…); a couple of kids were playing 'Tag' across the climbing frame, whilst their mothers told them to stop and get down to stay safe.

"Oh?" Reyna noticed how Jason was getting distracted – his ADHD was probably acting up, which meant he was probably a little nervous –and nudged his leg with her own. "And what is it you need to tell me, then?"

Jason looked back over sharply at the nudge, and smiled a little at her. "Oh, yeah. Well… I'm moving back to New Rome."

Reyna's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, I'm moving back here."

"Why? How?"

"Well… would you believe me if I said the gods made me?"

That shocked Reyna into silence. Which amused Jason because she almost always had something to say about whatever he was on about, even if it was just one word.

"Reyna?"

"The… the _gods_ made you?" she asked, sounding incredulous, and Jason nodded to confirm it.

"Yup."

Reyna just stared at him for a few moments, before shaking her head and sighing. She couldn't believe it, honestly. She couldn't believe that _the gods_ had relieved him of his job and made him move to New Rome! _Whatever for_? "Wait… why have you even moved to New Rome?"

"For university."

"You're studying at the university?"

"Mhmm. It was Hera's idea of ' _giving her champion a normal life_ '," he said, his nose crinkling ever so slightly as he said it. Mainly because he kind of didn't understand why they were having a change of heart now, when he was so into his job right then and was well on his way to completing every single temple. It just didn't really make that much sense to him. But, hey, these were the gods, and if they wanted to do something then they could do it.

Reyna nodded slowly. "Of course… Juno is your patron goddess."

"Exactly."

"So she has a choice over what you are to do and such?"

"Yup."

"So what are you studying?"

"Oh… I have no idea."

Reyna blinked at him. "You… have no idea?"

Jason shook his head and leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sky. "No, not really. That was the one thing that I was allowed to pick for myself – what I want to study."

Reyna nodded, following Jason's actions and sitting back on the bench, looking up at the sky and thinking.

The two stayed in that position for a little while, trying to come up with ideas on what Jason could study (and considering how well they knew each other, they had an idea of what the other was thinking of) before deciding to finally bounce their ideas off each other.

"Languages?"

"Like what? French?"

"Well, it's a Latin language, right?"

"No, Reyna."

"Okay, you come up with one."

"Um… Literature?"

"I cannot realistically see you sitting down and reading for more than five minutes without getting bored, Jason. It was bad enough when you were praetor."

"Right."

"How about medicine?"

"Can you honestly see me as a doctor?"

"…You're right."

"Biology?"

"You would accidentally fry everything that you touch. And Percy is taking that subject."

"…Good point."

"Law?"

"Too long, I guess. A good one, and it probably suits me, but… I don't know. I don't really think I'd like it in the long run."

"That's funny. I thought you would, considering that you are all for justice."

"Yeah, but it'd get tiring for me eventually, I guess."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Well… I like the sound of History?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow at that, and glanced over at him. "History?"

He nodded. "Yeah, History."

"With what?"

"…Throw something at me."

"…Politics."

He frowned over at her, and she just shrugged.

"If you won't take Law, then at least take Politics. It's another subject that suits you, what with your justice-like beliefs and your need to make sure that everyone is actually happy."

"Or kind of happy."

"Yes, that too."

A smile appeared on Jason's face, before he laughed a little. Reyna raised an eyebrow at him, although she was smiling.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I just… wow, I'd never really thought about college before. And now I'm here, and asking you for advice."

"Well, I should be joining you in a couple of years." She smiled at him. "My years in the legion are nearly complete."

"Really? Awesome."

"Although, from what I hear from Annabeth, your floor in the _Minerva Building_ is the most eventful floor of them all."

Jason outright laughed at that. "Oh yeah, you've got that spot on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And, as I said, don't hesitate to leave any prompts or ideas!


	2. A Date - Gwen & Dakota

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _And if you're looking for ideas, I've been in desperate need of some Dakota/Gwen recently._  
>  -BlueGirl22, Fanfiction.net
> 
> This oneshot focuses on Gwen and Dakota.

Gwen sighed as she flipped yet another page of her large literature book (which was often called a dictionary by her roommates… although, considering exactly _who_ her roommates were, they didn't really have an excuse to call _her_ books dictionaries…), her eyes scanning over the page as she took in all of the words. She had an essay to write in English Literature class the next day, and so she had to get as much as she could into her head before she wrote out a basic essay plan. At that moment, she was reading through as many pages as she could before writing out a basic essay plan for her to use for the essay the next day.

Or, at least, she was _trying_ to, but there was music blaring from a couple of dorms away.

Gwen sighed. Even when she was in her room, with a closed door, she could still hear those crazy boys partying away with loud music, and most likely drinking along with it.

On a _school_ night.

She knew it hadn't been a good idea to let Percy, Dakota and Bobby share a college dorm.

The female sat there for a few moments, trying to read and concentrate over the obvious vibrating of her desk due to the bass beat, before giving up and slamming her book shut, pushing herself away from her desk and opening her door to see what was going on in the main sitting room of her dorm.

Only to find her roommates – Annabeth and Leila (the daughter of Ceres) – reading, with headphones in and what she could assume was loud music blaring into their ears. The Roman huffed, before storming over and yanking the headphones out of the other girls' ears, earning indignant "hey!"s from both of them.

"Has it not occurred to you that there is a loud, _horrifying_ sound coming from one of the other dorms – most likely on our floor?" she demanded with a huff and a glare. The other girls looked unfazed by Gwen's outburst, and simply closed their own study books, placing them to the side.

"Oh, we noticed," Annabeth answered. "That's why we had earphones in. So that we could study."

Gwen huffed again. _Why hadn't she thought of that?_ "Oh, and you didn't think of telling that to me?"

"You were really busy studying, so we didn't want to disturb you," Leila pointed out. "And we thought you'd already thought of that."

"Well, clearly you were wrong." Gwen crossed her arms and looked between the two girls. "So, which one of you is going to do it?"

Annabeth frowned. "Do what?"

"Get those boys to turn the music off."

"Nuh uh." Leila shook her head, holding her hands up in a surrender position. "I did it last time, and it never goes well when I do it. You guys know that."

"And I do it pretty much every other time," Annabeth protested, "just because it's always Percy's dorm, and I'm dating Percy."

The two girls narrowed their eyes at Gwen. "Why don't _you_ do it?"

"W-what?" Gwen squeaked, her eyes going wide as she looked between the two girls. What the heck? Why was _she_ supposed to do it? She was the one that was studying for an essay the next day! Those two were just reading for fun! It wasn't fair! "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you always convince us to do it," Leila pointed out. "And then you just sit back and watch, and then you get mad at us if it doesn't work."

"Plus, we have things to catch up on," Annabeth pointed out, holding up an architecture book that Gwen was sure was at least double the thickness of her own English Literature book. "And I've been meaning to catch up on this for ages, Gwen. It's your turn now."

"But… but…" Gwen looked between the two with wide eyes, before beginning to whine. "That's not fair! I have essay revision to do!"

"Then you better get those boys to shut up quickly," Annabeth answered, going back to her book.

"The clock's ticking, Gwen," Leila told the girl with a smirk as she went back to her own book, sticking her earphones in.

Gwen groaned, before making her way over to the door of their dorm and opening it, wincing a little as the volume of the music increased without the door in the way to muffle it. She glanced down the corridor at the offending dorm room door and sighed, before making her way over.

It was now or never.

* * *

The Minerva building was known to be one of the most laid-back and relaxed buildings of the few that belonged to the students of the university, being the one most known for their parties. Floor five was the Bacchus floor, where the majority of the kids of Bacchus lived and where most of the dorm parties were held, which was considered a safety hazard by many as it was so high up, and _every dorm on that floor had balconies_. More than once, someone had been taken to hospital due to falling down the stairs. No one had fallen out of a window or off the balcony. Yet.

Floor one was the feast floor, where practically every child of Ceres lived. They held the most exquisite feasts the majority of the time, and after classes most of the students could be found heading there for snacks before going back to their own dorms.

The ground floor was the Apollo floor, and since most of them did either medicine or music, that was most often the loudest floor, blaring out anything from the latest pop songs to centuries old classical music. They often provided the music for any and all parties in the building.

The other floors were basically a mix up of different kinds of demigods and legacies, and each of them were involved in one way or another with whatever happened on the other floors.

It just so happened that floor two was the floor of mismatched and crazy people, and no one had really thought before putting some of the most intelligent demigods ( _Annabeth_ ) with some of the… more laid back and seemingly _less_ intelligent demigods (Dakota). It was too late to change anything now, but it often ended in an argument of some sort between dorms 3D and 3H.

Dakota, of course, didn't really mind who he shared a floor or a dorm with. Well, he minded who he shared a dorm with, but not the floor. All of the floors, to him, had their benefits, whether it was free food, or good music, or _drinks_. No matter where he was, he won either way. It was just that on this floor, he got the entertainment as well as all that other stuff.

Which was why he was playing beer ( _Kool Aid_ ) pong with Bobby whilst trying to convince Jason to forget about studying and join in. Percy was down at the library for the evening, doing some last minute studying for a Biology test he had the next day (leaving everything until the last minute… _atta boy, Percy_ ), so he wasn't around for Dakota to both and convince to join in.

"Come on, Jason!" he slurred, grinning. "It'll be fun!"

Jason just sighed from where he was reading his book, looking up at the two males. _I knew I should've gone to the library with Percy_. "No."

"But Jasooo _ooooon_ …"

"I said no, Dakota. I need to study. And frankly, so do you. Otherwise you'll fail classes."

Dakota just snorted, tilting his head back and letting out a drunken laugh. "Nah. I'll be _fiiiine_."

That's when there was a loud knock on the front door, which could only just be heard over the music playing. Jason sighed, his head leaning back until it hit the back of the chair. He could be sure that it was someone from one of the quieter dorms coming to complain and tell them to shut up – he was lucky that they weren't having a dorm party, otherwise they'd have two other floors on their asses as well.

"Dakota, get that," he groaned.

Dakota frowned. "Why do I have to get it?" he whined. "You're the completely sober one!"

"It's either you or Bobby, because I can't be bothered to get up and get the door."

"It's you, Dakota," Bobby answered quickly as he took a swig of the Kool Aid. "Not me this time."

Dakota looked between the other two males, pouted, before sighing and pulling himself to his feet, stumbling over to the door. As soon as he reached it, he pulled it open, and was fairly surprised to see that it wasn't Annabeth or Leila at the door as usual, but Gwen. "Gwen? What're you—"

"Turn it down."

He blinked. "What?"

"Turn down the music," she demanded. "It's too loud, and some of us can't concentrate on our studies with you blaring out your music and—have you been drinking?" She narrowed her eyes at him as she peered at him closely. "You have, haven't you?"

Dakota glanced from side to side, as if he was trying to avoid eye-contact, and shook his head earnestly. "No…"

"I can see it, Dakota. Your lips are bright red again."

"What, so a guy can't wear lipstick now?"

Gwen scoffed. "You? Lipstick? Bobby, maybe, and Percy if it was a dare, but you? Nuh-uh."

Dakota scowled at her. Honestly, sometimes he hated how she could call him out on every single thing. How she could be so sweet, but then know pretty much everything about him so that she knew what to say and when to say it. How she could twist his arm _just enough_ to be able to bribe him without hurting him too much. It was horrible.

But also attractive.

Mainly horrible, though.

"Was there a reason you came here, other than to comment on my poor beverage choices?" he asked her, leaning against the doorframe.

Gwen rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, and I've already said it: turn the music down."

"What, this beautiful classical music?"

"Dakota, I'm pretty sure every floor in the block can feel the base beat of this music you're playing, and we really don't need to be vibrating all evening as we study. I'm doing you a favour by telling you now rather than waiting for Apollo kids to come up and tell you, or making Annabeth and Leila come and confiscate your stereo again."

Dakota put a finger to his cheek in thought, pretending to think about that. Then he shook his head. "Nuh-uh. We're making a deal."

"A deal?" One of Gwen's eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, a deal."

"Okay, what are the terms?"

"I'll turn off the stereo… but only if you go on a date with me."

Gwen spluttered, choking on air for a few seconds. "What?!"

* * *

"I cannot believe that I actually _agreed_ to go through with this."

At that moment in time, Gwen was walking down the streets of New Rome. She'd (reluctantly) agreed to go on a date with Dakota, as long as he'd promised not to go on about it and make the date as low-key as possible – she had classes to study for, and so she couldn't waste all of her time just dawdling about with Dakota. Especially since he'd most likely be drinking Kool Aid whilst she was just sitting around and watching him. Don't get her wrong, he _was_ a nice guy, but he drank so much that it was off-putting.

The female was walking through the streets, all dressed for her date. Her hair was held back by a simple Alice-band, and she was wearing a blue knee-length A-shaped dress with white ballet pumps and a white cardigan.

She pushed a strand of hair back as she reached the agreed meeting area – the small cafe just down the street from their dorms. As she reached the place, she glanced around, looking to see whether anyone else had spotted her there.

Gwen had tried to make sure that _no one_ in their apartment block knew of what was happening with herself and Dakota – mainly because they'd end up leading to false rumours, and technically she and Dakota weren't a couple. Plus, the majority of people in the apartment block had known the two back in the legion, and knew of how close they were. So for them to find out that she was going on a date with him…? That would probably ruin her chances of getting through university whilst staying in the shadows.

Of course, her roommates knew of it – Annabeth and Leila had helped her to get ready (despite neither of them being daughters of Aphrodite – Annabeth claimed that her time with Piper had done her some good) – and Dakota's roommates knew of it too – she'd nearly _killed_ Bobby when he started talking to her about it in the middle of the halls on the way to lectures.

The female stood there, waiting for a few minutes more, before she heard someone approaching from behind her and span to face whoever it was.

The suspicious expression changed to an exasperated one when she realised it was Dakota approaching her, and she had to admit, he cleaned up _nice_. Apparently, someone had clued him in on what colour she was wearing, because he wore a blue shirt with dark jeans, and a pair of sneakers than almost didn't look like sneakers unless you looked hard enough.

He grinned at her. "Gwen."

She rolled her eyes. "Dakota."

He gave an over-exaggerated bow, before standing and extending an arm for her to take. "Shall we get going? Your dinner awaits."

She sighed, before shrugging and taking his arm with her hand. "I guess."

As the male led her down the streets, the two were quiet, not really having much of a conversation until they reached Terminus. That was when she spotted the Pegasus, and she frowned a little.

"Wait, Dakota… what's the Pegasus doing here…?"

Dakota just shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "I don't know. Climb on and maybe you can find out."

Gwen would've almost called than moment magical or romantic, had it not been interrupted by the god protecting New Rome.

"You two better get back before curfew!" he barked. "And no messing around out there! We don't need any legacies from you two quite yet! And remember—!"

"We've got it, Terminus," Dakota interrupted as he helped Gwen onto the flying horse, and he climbed on so that he sat in front of her. "We'll be back in time. Promise."

"You'd better!"

Gwen wrapped her arms around Dakota's waist from behind – a gesture she'd later claim was for safety rather than comfort – and tightened her grip a little as the horse galloped off, taking a few steps before setting off into the evening sky.

* * *

The pair flew for a good ten minutes, and the whole time Dakota was pointing out different parts of the land below to Gwen, such as the different shopping centres and residential areas around the fort, or the hills and the forest areas that he'd ventured through with Bobby and Jason on quests once upon a time.

Soon enough, the Pegasus was lowering, and Gwen's eyebrows rose when she found that they were landing on some sort of hill, with lighting on top of it. Faint lighting, but lighting nonetheless.

"Where are we?" she asked as the Pegasus' hooves landed on the hill, the winged horse trotting for a few seconds before slowing to a stop.

Dakota just slid off the horse, glancing around to see what was there before turning back to Gwen. "We're at our date," he answered with a grin – one that Gwen was surprised to find didn't look drunk or goofy at all. It looked kind of smug, but… _cute_ to Gwen.

"…Oh." Gwen took his outstretched hand as she climbed down from the horse. She was confused. Why were they on a hill? Wasn't it, like, a beacon for monsters anyway?

Dakota just chuckled a little, before beginning to lead her over to the lit area of the hill. "Just follow me," he told her.

After a few moments, Gwen realised exactly what he'd meant by them being at their date.

A small, wide table had been set out on the ground, a picnic blanket set on top of it and below it with cushions on the bottom blanket to sit on. On the table were plates with various foods on them, a jug with a drink in it (which was probably Kool Aid, to be honest), and in the middle of the table was a lit candle.

Gwen gasped. "Oh!"

Dakota grinned and gestured towards the table. "Ta da!"

A smile grew on Gwen's face. "It's… it's _amazing_!"

Dakota's eyes widened. "You… you really think it's that good?"

"Yeah!"

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Jupiter."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you honestly think that I wouldn't?" she asked him as she began to make her way over to the table.

Dakota laughed nervously as he followed her over. "Well… you're kind of hard to please. I had to think really hard about something you'd like to do…"

"A simple movie and pizza in New Rome would've been nice."

"You would've faked enjoying it."

"Would I?"

"You know you would."

Gwen rolled her eyes at him as she sat down on one of the pillows, beside an empty plate. "Oh please." She stared at the jug of drink in front of her. "Is this Kool Aid?" she asked.

"Uh, no, actually." Dakota laughed nervously again as he sat opposite Gwen. "I, uh… I got us juice. Looks like Kool Aid, but it's just juice." He shrugged a little. "Thought I'd go for a healthier alternative on a date."

Gwen smiled softly at him. He'd wanted to go clean on a date for _her_ …? She found that rather sweet – actually, it was _very_ sweet, and it was a side of Dakota she rarely got to see.

Dakota noticed the smile – how it was different to her usual "come on, guys, cheer up!" smile – and blinked, glancing around himself nervously. "Uh… what is it?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she replied with a grin, before reaching out and grabbing one of the plates of food. "Let's dig in!"

* * *

A couple of hours later, Gwen and Dakota were making their way back to New Rome on the Pegasus, flying slowly through the night sky so as to enjoy the view of the streets dotted with lights, as well as the sky which was (fortunately) clear that night and dotted with stars, the moon a crescent shape in the sky. Gwen had her arms wrapped around Dakota, her head leaning on his back as she watched the world below. Dakota had a slight smile on his face as he directed the Pegasus back towards New Rome.

Their evening date had been pleasant – it had been made up of dinner (which consisted of different bits and pieces of Chinese takeout meals that Dakota had ordered that day), chatting, and simply watching the surrounding civilian (mortal) lives pass by.

Gwen had to admit that it was a pleasant evening. She enjoyed the conversations that they had – from normal things like their classes and how they were going, to random things like the most vicious monsters that could come after them (Gwen had extensive knowledge thanks to Annabeth and her numerous books on Greek mythology that she kept stashed in her room; she had stolen them once or twice out of sheer boredom). The conversations had been so interesting that Gwen hadn't wanted them to end, but they had to return to the doors before it got too late and they began to disturb people.

Soon enough, they trotted to a stop in front of the _Minerva Building_ , and Dakota led Gwen inside and up to their floor, leaving the Pegasus outside. The ride in the elevator was silent, save for the fact that Gwen was humming ever so softly as she leaned on Dakota. The two headed down the corridor once they reached their floor, not quite holding hands, but standing close enough to seem like it.

Eventually, they reached Gwen's door: dorm 3D.

"Well… this is it," Dakota said with finality, turning to her with a smile.

Gwen nodded, smiling softly at him as she pushed some of her hair back behind her ear. "Yeah, it is…"

Dakota began scratching his arm, looking down at the floor nervously as he thought of what to say. "Well, uh, yeah, so… I hope you had a good time…"

Gwen just rolled her eyes at his nervousness, before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, pulling away with a smile. "Catch you on the way to classes tomorrow?" she asked as she moved to open her door.

His eyes widened as he moved to touch his cheek in the spot where he'd been kissed. "Uh… um…" he managed to stammer out, his cheeks flushing a faint pink when she giggled a little at him. "Y-yeah…"

"Great!" She flashed him a bright smile as she opened her door and slipped inside. "Night, Dakota!"

"Night, Gwen…" he returned as she closed her door, and as soon as she had, his face split out into a huge grin.

He'd gotten a kiss.

From _Gwen_.

He had to stop himself from cheering or whooping as he headed down the corridor, back down to the front of the apartment block to take the Pegasus back to the stables.

Date: successful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave any requests!


	3. Guerrilla Theatre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _OK, I don't want to, but the fangirl inside of me is BEGGING you not to kill Jasper!_  
>  -SilverHuntresses, Fanfiction.net
> 
>  
> 
> This one-shot focuses on Jason and Piper. Based on this prompt:  
>  _You're part of the guerrilla theatre club on campus and crashed my class for a performance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! It's been, like, forever since I updated this story, but I was really lacking the inspiration for it. I loved the whole idea, but I was a little bit stuck on how to get it out. But! I've finally managed to do it! So here's another one-shot!

"I honestly didn't think you'd be that into acting."

Piper looked up from where she was stretching on the floor to see Annabeth leaning on the mirrors by the area she was stretching in, watching her with a smirk on her face.

Granted, when she decided to attend the University of New Rome (without telling Jason, mind you), she hadn't expected to join any drama clubs. After all, she didn't really want to follow her dad into acting, and she wasn't quite sure that acting was for _her_ anyway, but this… this was _fun_.

After all, Piper was a girl who did _politics_. Piper was so _into_ politics, even though she was doing it alongside Literature, that she could take it any and every day of the week, and guerrilla theatre was something she could finally be _passionate_ about. She could convey how she felt about any and every political issue.

And today's issue? The differences in godly heritage.

And since it wasn't _her_ politics class that was on right then, they were going into _Jason's_ politics class.

The _best_ way to tell your boyfriend that you were attending classes there.

"Shouldn't you be at debating club right now?" Piper asked as she pulled herself to her feet, turning to face the mirror so that she could do her facial stretches.

"Shouldn't you have told Jason you're in your second year of classes here?" Annabeth shot back with a smirk, folding her arms.

Piper scowled at that. Annabeth had a point – she really _should_ have told him that Reyna got her to be allowed to start classes here the year before, especially since Jason thought she was spending some time doing an internship and living with her dad, but she stayed in a different building, and she loved this place. It was like her home. And she had friends here.

Like the friends who shared classes with Jason, and so would be in there doing the sketch whilst the rest of the class had no idea what was happening until the last minute.

(The professor knew they would be doing a sketch in there – it was no biggie, really.)

This was going to be _great_.

The scowl melted off Piper's face as she thought about it, transforming into a smirk. "Imagine the look on Jason's face when he realises it's me," she told Annabeth with a grin, turning to look at the blonde.

"Imagine how _upset_ he'll be if he finds out he's been studying here and you've been here and you haven't even told him the truth," Annabeth countered.

"Ever the optimist, aren't you, Chase?"

"Well, I do try."

"How about you quit bugging me and go back to your debating club? I'm sure there are some facts there you need to correct."

Annabeth scoffed and rolled her eyes at Piper, before picking up her satchel and slinging it over her shoulder. Granted, she knew that Piper wasn't _trying_ to be harsh to her or anything, but sometimes it could come across like that. "Alright, alright, _beauty queen_. I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Meet you at the cafe for lunch?" Piper asked with a hopeful smile.

"You know it." Annabeth sent her a grin before leaving the room, heading for her club.

As soon as Annabeth had left, Piper went back to stretching, raising her hands up above her head and pushing upwards before leaning back slowly, taking a deep breath in. Different thoughts were fluttering through her mind at that moment, such as how Jason would react to her presence and maybe just what she should wear as part of her outfit for the thing, and she almost missed her name being called from the door.

" _McLean_!"

Piper looked over to whoever was calling her name and smiled when she spotted one of her friends, a blonde named Elle from the drama club, waving over at her. The brunette waved back, before heading over to her.

"You ready to go?" Elle asked, folding her arms as she watched Piper stretching her arms as she walked over.

"As I'll ever be," Piper replied with a grin.

"All prepped to show your boyfriend where you've really been for the past year?"

Piper gave her a look. "Does _everyone_ need to nag me about this?" she demanded with a huff. "So I haven't told him about me attending here yet – big deal."

" _You_ might not think it's a big deal, but just wait until _he_ finds out," Elle countered, before turning to head towards the door. "Now, come on – we need to go and get ready for this thing. That class starts in a couple of minutes."

"Coming…" Piper mumbled, before following the other female out of the room.

* * *

Jason sighed as he headed down the corridor to his class, his sneakers squeaking against the oak floors as he made his way through the building. He was tired – he knew that living with Percy and Dakota would be crazy, since (despite the fact that they both had girlfriends) they were really outgoing and excitable guys, but he hadn't expected late nights watching Disney movies with piles of popcorn, chocolate and coffee (a dangerous substance for demigods, Jason quickly realised) instead of studying. Yet, that was what he got – and that was what he was suffering from now.

As he reached the door to the lecture theatre, his hand bumped into that of another person, and he glanced up to spot a blonde reaching for the door handle just as he was. He quickly brought his hand back, his cheeks turning a faint pink.

"Uh… sorry…" he apologised lamely, causing the blonde to chuckle.

"It's alright," she replied with a smile, and Jason took that brief reply time to quickly analyse her. About average height, long blonde hair held back in a French braid, with blue eyes and freckles dusting her cheeks (he wasn't _staring_ … he just happened to _notice_ ). If anything, Jason thought she reminded him of an oh-so-familiar demigod who was dating a good friend of his.

His thought was confirmed when she reached out a hand for him to shake. "Elle Tanner, daughter of Apollo."

Jason took the hand and shook it, smiling at her. "Jason Grace, son of Zeus… I mean, Jupiter."

"Ah, so you're the _saving Grace_ people talk about?"

"The one and only."

The female laughed lightly, and Jason knew that if he wasn't taken by the one and only daughter of Tristan McLean, he'd have fallen for that light laugh as well. She could've passed off for a daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason was sure of it.

"So, I'm guessing you've got a class now?"

Jason was snapped out of his thoughts by her question quickly enough to respond with a nod and a smile. "Right in here. Politics class."

"You're a freshman?"

"Yup."

The female's lips quirked up into a small smirk. "And here's me thinking that the great Jason Grace would've been here for longer than that."

Jason snorted as he placed his hand on the door handle and pushed the door open, standing aside for the female to walk into the lecture theatre. "I would've, but you know the gods – they always have plans that are seemingly more important than anyone else's."

"When they just end up screwing things up?" Elle questioned jokingly as she walked in.

"Why, of course."

"I never thought I'd hear a Roman speak like that about the gods."

"You live around the Greeks long enough and you pick it up." The blonde simply grinned as he moved to take a seat nearer to the middle of the lecture theatre they walked into, not really taking much notice of the people in front of or behind him. Or, at least, he tried not to. A lot of people he recognised from back in the legion, but if people started recognising him as an ex-praetor, he wouldn't get any peace at all. Elle took a seat just behind him.

"I like you, but not enough to sacrifice a quick get-away."

He snorted. "Thanks."

It was at that moment that the room, previously filled with chatter, went silent, only to then be filled with near silent whispers and hisses. Jason frowned as he looked around the room, wondering why exactly everything had gone so quiet.

Until he saw it. Or rather, _her_.

Two rows from the front of the lecture theatre, a girl sat. He couldn't see much considering her back was turned, but her dark, curled hair didn't completely cover up what was stuck pretty firmly between her shoulder blades.

 _Aphrodite_.

A good couple of seats away from her, maybe a row or two behind, sat another student with something stuck to their back; this one was male and had _Ceres_ on his back. Looking around the room, Jason spotted that there were various students with the names of gods stuck to their backs: _Mars_ , _Apollo_ , _Mercury_ , _Nemesis_ … Jason was pretty sure he spotted almost every god who _could_ have kids in there, except for the Big Three, of course. After all, there weren't that many children of the Big Three – only four – and only two of them attended university.

He almost jumped when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Elle smiling at him.

"Hey, just warning you that I'm heading down to say 'hi' to someone, so I won't be gracing you with my wonderful presence for a little while." She patted the rucksack on the table. "I'm leaving my stuff here, so I'll be back."

He nodded, calming his rapidly beating heart, before he noticed her back as she headed down to somewhere near the front of the theatre.

 _Apollo_.

Was this some sort of cult meeting he'd accidentally walked into?!

Just as he was about to get up and leave, though, he heard a commotion coming from nearer to the front of the room and paused, looking up from where he had been packing his books.

" _A child of Aphrodite? Doing politics?!_ "

" _You must be mad._ "

Jason's brow furrowed deeply. A son of Mars and a son of Apollo (which he guessed from the signs on their backs) seemed to be rounding on the daughter of Aphrodite he'd seen sitting down before practically sneering down at her. She seemed to be paying them no mind until the child of Mars pushed her books off her desk.

"Hey!"

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Does my heritage matter?"

Another book was swept off her desk, this one by the son of Apollo. "Does a daughter of a manipulative goddess who uses her looks for her own gain deserve to take this class? Go back to beauty school or something."

"I deserve to be in this class just as much as you, sunshine. Unless you were planning to go and sunbathe on the beach after this?"

There was a collective hiss around the room as the son of Apollo narrowed his eyes at her, about to say something when Elle stepped in, holding her hands up to stop him.

"Hey, hey, we don't need to start anything in here before class starts," she warned, glancing between the two offending males.

"Class won't start until that little _princess_ heads back to her rightful place," the son of Mars sneered, and everything exploded at once. Students from all over the room, all with names of godly parents stuck to their backs, honed in on the developing situation; some of whom Jason hadn't even _seen_ were in the room. From what it looked like, it was girls against guys, with the guys mostly being what seemed to be children of Mars, Apollo, and a couple of Bellona kids too.

And then, just like that, everything froze.

Literally.

Jason was so confused that he didn't notice a speaker step up onto one of the desks until their voice was heard loudly around the theatre, and pretty much everyone who _wasn't_ involved in what was going on was watching.

"Is this what we've come to? Judging each other based on our heritage and not who we are as demigods and what we can do? Are we not separate entities from our parents; can we not make decisions for ourselves?" They began to walk slowly across the desks, all the while keeping their eyes on the audience. "Do we judge all mortals based on what they have or have not done? No? Then why do we do so with demigods? Why does the ability of a demigod to do a subject depend on their heritage? Why do the strengths of a demigod depend solely on who their mother or father is?" They stopped when they reached a desk right in the middle of the room, somewhere everyone could see them. "After all, we are all individual beings, aren't we? We are not just our parents' children, and we want to be recognised as more than just offspring. We are our own people, and we all have the ability to become great people! We are individuals, who got here on our own strengths, who have made it this far on our own, and being classed according to what our parents have done is not fair at all! We just want to be _who_ _ **we**_ _are_!"

The scene began moving again, and the son of Mars was advancing on the daughter of Aphrodite he'd picked on in the first place. The shove he gave her sent the girl stumbling and Jason was tempted to shoot out of his seat and go to her aid, but this wasn't any normal fight. At least, not from what he'd seen in the past few minutes.

He just didn't expect the girl to bounce back so quickly, and with a _dagger_ no less…

Wait a second, Jason _recognised_ that dagger. It was almost impossible for him _not_ to. After all, he'd travelled for months with the person who _owned_ said dagger.

That meant…

That's when kaleidoscopic eyes landed on him, and he just about managed to pick his jaw up from the floor. Because he'd recognise those eyes _anywhere_. Changing from a serious brown to a much happier blue, they focused back on the guy in front of her again, the bronze blade mere inches from the other guy's face.

"Just because I'm a child of beauty doesn't mean I can't kick your butt into the ground."

The son of Mars stared at her for a second in shock, before sneering. "I'd like to see you—" He was cut off when the blade nicked his cheek, a small trail of blood beginning to make its way down to his chin.

"Don't tempt me."

" _Alright, class!_ "

It took less than a second for all of those who'd been part of whatever had happened to scramble away, some racing out through the entrance to the lecture theatre whilst others took various seats around the hall, acting as if nothing had happened. Their lecturer didn't even look phased as he took his place at the podium, setting up his papers and such. Though when he did look up, it was to meet the confused expressions of his students.

"What?"

* * *

"So you study here, then?"

Piper looked up from her spot on the ground to see a very familiar blonde approaching, a pile of notebooks and textbooks in his arms and a rucksack hung over one shoulder, his scarred lip quirked up into a slight smile. In fact, only his eyes gave away his confusion.

She sighed, glancing down at the textbook in her hands before back up at him. "Only… only since last year." Before he could speak, she put her hand up to stop him, getting to her feet. "And before you ask _why_ I didn't tell you, Jason: what would you have done if I told you that I was coming here to study politics and literature?"

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, his lips pursed firmly into a thin line. He knew _exactly_ what he would've done. He would've taken it as an opportunity to take a break, maybe stop working on the temples for a good while, and try to settle down with Piper _without_ the gods' permissions. He would've seen her often, yes, but he'd be in and out so often that any promises of staying around and helping her would've been for nothing. And he'd have been too tempted by the opportunity to live like a _normal_ demigod.

In other words…

"Probably risked getting fried alive by my own father for causing discord amongst the minor gods and ended up hated and replaced for a job that I started," he muttered. "Probably wouldn't have even made it here…"

"And you wouldn't be rooming with people who are _actually_ your friends," she added, "because as much as I love you, we both need our space sometimes, right?"

He let out a snort, glancing down at his feet before back up at her. It wouldn't take a genius to realise he was still a fair bit hurt by the fact that she hadn't told him anything, but he partly understood. He was making new friends, getting to know old ones… old ones who'd _known_ that Piper was here. Oh, he was going to _kill_ Percy later…

He didn't realise she had stepped closer until he felt her hand on his arm, and he looked up at her sharply.

"How about we go get lunch, huh, Superman?" she asked. "I'm meant to meet Annabeth, but I'm sure she won't mind me making an exception for you. After all," she smirked at him, "you're cuter."

He simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that your way of trying to soften me up?"

"Is it working?"

He rolled his eyes at her as he chuckled, slipping an arm around her waist as the moved to head out of the building. "I guess it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm really sorry if it wasn't what you guys were expecting... but please tell me in a review! And send in more prompts!


End file.
